Titan Power Is Too Much for Harvard Pitching

There was no Harvard surprise this time.

The unranked Crimson pulled off a first-round NCAA regional upset last season with a victory over UCLA, but Cal State Fullerton made sure it didn’t happen two years in a row.

Fullerton pounded six Harvard pitchers for 20 hits, including three home runs, and coasted to a 16-1 victory Thursday in the South II Regional at Louisiana State’s Alex Box Stadium.

It was the Titans’ second-largest winning margin in 20 regional appearances and ninth victory without a loss in three regionals at LSU.

The 12th-ranked Titans (45-15) got exactly what they wanted from the opener.

They saved their top two pitchers--Erasmo Ramirez and Benny Flores--for later in the tournament, and got four shutout innings from freshman left-hander Jon Smith. Smith gave up only two hits and two walks in his first start since March 7 when he developed arm trouble.

Fullerton advances to a winners’ bracket game at 5:30 p.m. today against Tulane (48-13). The Green Wave defeated Southwestern Louisiana, 11-5.

“Everything went well, beginning with the pitching and going right through the defense and the hitting,” Titan Coach George Horton said. “Our hitting today was more like it should be. We hit a lull in the Big West tournament.”

Ryan Owens, Greg Jacobs and Steve Chatham each homered. Jacobs, Ryan Moore and Kevin Duck each had three hits, but Smith’s pitching set the tone for the game early.

Smith struck out two of the first three batters. He gave up a hit to Hal Carey in the first, but picked him off first and didn’t give up another hit until Carey nicked him for an infield single in the fourth.

“One of the reasons we started Jon was that he has such a great pickoff move, and one of Harvard’s strength is its speed on the bases,” Horton said. “We had Jon on a pitch count of around 60 pitches, and he had 68 when he finished the fourth. Jon has a professional future, and we wouldn’t want to do anything to hurt that.”

Smith said he was beginning to tire at that point anyway. “I think the coaches made the right decision by taking me out then,” Smith said. “I’ve been rehabilitating my arm. Today I tried to throw strikes and let my defense work for me.”

It did. Second baseman David Bacani and center fielder Reed Johnson made diving catches of looping fly balls in the third inning.

Marco Hanlon (5-2) took over in the fifth and picked up the victory. Hanlon pitched three innings, giving up six hits and one run.

The Titans scored four runs in the second inning to take control quickly. Moore and David Trentine doubled to get the inning rolling. Bacani and Johnson drove in runs with base hits, and another run scored when Jacobs singled.

Jacobs’ sixth home run of the season after an inning-opening hit by Johnson gave Fullerton two more runs in the fifth. Then Owens, who had only two hits in 11 at-bats in the Big West tournament last week, put the game on ice with his 10th homer of the year, a three-run shot that cleared the 405-mark in center in the sixth. Chatham hit his sixth of the season, driving in three runs in a four-run eighth.

Harvard got its only run in the eighth on an RBI single by Brian Ralph, who played at Dana Hills High. Ralph was disappointed he didn’t get a hit in the fifth with the bases loaded. He flew out to deep right center.

“It was still only 4-0 then, and not getting a hit there hurt us,” Ralph said. “We’re not the team that showed up today. We’re better than that.”

But Harvard Coach Joe Walsh said the Titans were overpowering. “We’re disappointed, but when a team executes as well as Fullerton did, you just have to tip your hat,” he said.

In the other game, two-time defending champion LSU defeated Nicholls State, 18-4. Clint Earnhart and Danny Higgins each hit a grand slam.